Commentary: Times are tough, but Americans are smiling

4:50 PM,
Oct. 1, 2012

Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota was created as an act of optimism, the writer says.

Written by

MICHELLE NUNN

Depending on the poll, a majority of Americans say they believe our country is heading in the wrong direction, doubt their children will have a better future, and believe American values are eroding.

This summer, I set out in a minvan with my husband and two kids to check the nation's pulse, to meet with dozens of people who are on the front lines, dealing with community problems from hunger to homelessness, from unemployment to the lack of affordable health care.

I expected to find people defeated from a long effort to deal with the most brutal recession in our lifetimes. What I found, instead, ...